Have you ever noticed, whenever you go to a scheduled event, meeting, or party, that about 1 in 5 people show up late? If you’re a punctual person, you’ve for sure noticed it… probably because you get a little annoyed by habitually late people.

A study done at San Francisco State University found that about 20% of the U.S. population is chronically late. And while it does seem very rude and inconsiderate (especially to people who tend to always be on time), it’s not necessarily because they don’t value others’ time. It’s a lot more complicated than that.

I know this because, like I confessed way back in episode #19, I used to struggle with being on time. Yes, kind of ironic, since I am technically a time management specialist.

Over the years, I’ve gotten much better. And now, I actually tend to be a little early to events. Considering being about 5-10 minutes late was an ingrained habit since I was in my teens, it took a lot for me to change my ways. Not only did I have to evaluate my mindsets and figure out WHY I was always late, but I also had to change my relationship with time.

Just like chronically late people tend to baffle those who tend to be on time, punctual people tend to bewilder those that are always late. I remember I used to look at who are always on time to everything and I’d wonder, “how is it that they are always on time? How do I turn into someone like that? Someone who shows up early and finishes projects with time to spare?” Yes, to me, those people were mystifying.

But if you ever want to be more successful in any area of life, you need to take a look at what other successful people are doing.

So for today’s episode of Life Made Simple, we look at exactly what punctual people do to be punctual. We look at 7 habits of people who are always on time.